When I read about the second video activity, my initial thought was to showcase my love of certain eras of history. Since I recently saw the movie "Lincoln", I explored Civil War photos at the National Archives. According to the National Archives's privacy policy, I am free to non-commercially use any materials. Thus, I downloaded the twenty-six best images in my opinion that captured the gruesome yet necessary fight to end slavery. I then went to Wikimedia Commons to download a few more photos and portraits. I debated the best audio background for a while. I could not decide between a copyright-free version of Battle Hymn of the Republic or America the Beautiful. As I searched for copyright-free versions, I came across a reading of the Gettysburg Address, which I immediately felt would be perfect for my images. I used Audacity to cut the narrator's personal introduction at the beginning, exported the mp3 and then imported it into my iTunes library. Using iMovie, I placed my images in my project, and adjusted the transition between photos to cross dissolve. I then added the Gettysburg Address from my iTunes Library. Lastly, I used the ragged American flag photo at the beginning and end, as a symbol that a unified America was Lincoln's motivation and the eventual result. As a side note, the American flag image was what remained after the battle at Fort Sumter. I placed titles on both of these flag images. As I viewed the video, I adjusted the order of the images to fit the words of the speech, and I edited the Ken Burns effect to best pan and zoom on the images. Lastly, I finalized the project and uploaded it to YouTube.
1. What challenges did you encounter?
The biggest challenge I encountered was simply the learning curve of the software. I think if I were to do this project now, it would take one-forth the time it did, especially in terms of titles and transitions. In the end, I think I tried every transition possible. I also tested numerous fonts and titles.
2. What new things did you learn?
I have used iMovie countless times to narrate Powerpoint lectures and to upload videos to YouTube. However, this project afforded me the opportunity to learn how to marry audio and still images, as well as how to incorporate smooth and/or artistic transitions. Now I feel like I could use iMovie in so many new ways professionally and personally, especially creating photo montages with appropriate music.
When I read about the second video activity, my initial thought was to showcase my love of certain eras of history. Since I recently saw the movie "Lincoln", I explored Civil War photos at the National Archives. According to the National Archives's privacy policy, I am free to non-commercially use any materials. Thus, I downloaded the twenty-six best images in my opinion that captured the gruesome yet necessary fight to end slavery. I then went to
Wikimedia Commons to download a few more photos and portraits. I debated the best audio background for a while. I could not decide between a copyright-free version of Battle Hymn of the Republic or America the Beautiful. As I searched for copyright-free versions, I came across a reading of the Gettysburg Address, which I immediately felt would be perfect for my images. I used Audacity to cut the narrator's personal introduction at the beginning, exported the mp3 and then imported it into my iTunes library. Using iMovie, I placed my images in my project, and adjusted the transition between photos to cross dissolve. I then added the Gettysburg Address from my iTunes Library. Lastly, I used the ragged American flag photo at the beginning and end, as a symbol that a unified America was Lincoln's motivation and the eventual result. As a side note, the American flag image was what remained after the battle at Fort Sumter. I placed titles on both of these flag images. As I viewed the video, I adjusted the order of the images to fit the words of the speech, and I edited the Ken Burns effect to best pan and zoom on the images. Lastly, I finalized the project and uploaded it to YouTube.
1. What challenges did you encounter?
The biggest challenge I encountered was simply the learning curve of the software. I think if I were to do this project now, it would take one-forth the time it did, especially in terms of titles and transitions. In the end, I think I tried every transition possible. I also tested numerous fonts and titles.
2. What new things did you learn?
I have used iMovie countless times to narrate Powerpoint lectures and to upload videos to YouTube. However, this project afforded me the opportunity to learn how to marry audio and still images, as well as how to incorporate smooth and/or artistic transitions. Now I feel like I could use iMovie in so many new ways professionally and personally, especially creating photo montages with appropriate music.
Civil War images:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lincoln_and_McClellan_1862-10-03.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Allan_Pinkerton_and_Kate_Warne.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Sumter_storm_flag_1861.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sutlers_tent_petersburg_01730v.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DutchGapb.jpg
http://www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/photos/
Gettysburg Address:
http://archive.org/details/gettysburg_johng_librivox